nefarious epiphany
by youtrashqueen
Summary: Not your usual PPG piece of fanfiction. This is the struggle of growing up, learning to cope with emotions, fighting evil and striving for a life of normalcy for the three powerpuff girls and rowdyruff boys. Reader-insert.
1. Chapter 1

"It's hot."

"It is." a shuffling sound of material deafened the silence, until it settled back once more like a suffocatingly warm blanket on a summer night. Three girls sat next to each other on the grass, near a wooden bench that was perched just underneath an oak tree. The blonde one with pigtails that fell in loose curls over her slender shoulders, turned her gaze towards the fourth girl that laid on the bench, her chest heaving as she exhaled and inhaled, a hand hovering above her eyes to block the burning and bright sunlight which crept through the leaves.

"Renee?"

"Mm?" the blonde bit her lips thoughtfully, casting a glance towards the brunette that was sprawled at the trunk of the tree, a baseball cap lowered over her face as she slept. "W-what will you do?" it was easy to catch the light trum in her tone, as if she knew the answer but wanted to validate it.

A sigh resounded from the bench, locks of pale pink slipping over the edge as the girl addressed by Renee turned her head enough to squint an eye at the blue-eyed golden girl. "I still have time to figure that out, Bubbles." as if the name burnt, Bubbles lowered her eyes to the hem of her baby blue dress covering her knees, fingers playing mindlessly with the ring on her index finger.

The sound of a page turning snapped the two girls from their dialogue, both their attention grasped by the redhead sitting at the feet of the bench, back leaned on it and face scrunched in concentration with what she was reading, the black leather book held elegantly between her slender fingers. Her trademark red bow that held her fiery strands into a neat ponytail shifted with a light breeze. She cleared her throat and finally closed the book, placing it neatly on her lap, a morbid contrast between the black and the washed blue jeans she was sporting.

"I would suggest making a plan, Renee, do not let the fact that you have time fool you, organize yourself and think of both pros and cons." the pinkette groaned at the professional tonality of the redhead, pulling herself up in a sitting position and brushing the messy long strands back, a scowl evident on her pale features. "Don't give me that, Blossom." she quietly added to the display of rebellion.

"I'm only trying to-" the redhead started, halted by the hand that was raised in her direction "I know." but Blossom rolled her eyes and stood up effortlessly and with grace, flipping the long ponytail over her other shoulder and fixing her silky light pink top. Bubbles followed in her sister's movements and stood up as well, patting the blue dress that came to her knees, before she turned towards the pinkette that glared at her own blue sneakers and played with the brown belt of the dungarees she sported.

"Quit it Bloss, let'er choose for herself, stop yapping like you're some kinda authority figure or somethin'," all eyes turned to the brunette that had previously slept soundly over the tree trunk, her face now visible as she gazed sharply at Blossom, the electric green eyes forcing her sister to avoid a direct eye contact. "Look, Renee, if you wanna get involved, that's good, we need an extra bicep in here, if you don't wanna, that's fine too, I ain't gonna judge you for it." the short-haired ravenette always had a way to put her at ease. As logical and rational as Blossom was, Buttercup took the cake with how direct and simple she solved the problems that came her way.

"Now should we just get our asses home or what? I'm starving." it was settled then, as the third member of the four-girl squad stood up. Bubbles nodded vigorously while Blossom scoffed but followed the brunette either way, while the pinkette watched the three sisters soaring into the air, a grin plastered over her lips.

It was incredible and baffling how easily the three sisters accepted her in their family, ever since she was fifteen and angry. Her mother married their father and it felt as if they were a match made in heaven, what with them both being science lovers and practitioners in the field. Five years passed since then and it still made Renee smile at how ridiculous their first meeting was and how hard she made it for her mother, stubbornly refusing to adjust to Townsville, after all, Citysville had been her home for fifteen years.

It felt like it was yesterday when she stared up at the dark haired man that was going to become her step-father, and glared at him with fire in her baby blues. It felt like it was yesterday that she had her first bickering with Buttercup or the first word-war with Blossom. It felt like it was yesterday that she discovered the lives the three girls had, fighting crime and facing criminals at least each week or every few days, putting their lives in danger every time they went out there with bravery in their hearts. She learned to respect them then, because as they grew up, the villains became meaner, bigger...stronger. It also felt like it was yesterday that she had to come clean about her secret that her mother had kept for years, while they were gathered at the kitchen table and questioned about the time when she saved a girl's life by literally stopping a truck in the middle of the street. It was obvious that fate had a funny way of arranging this, because while Renee had been hiding her special abilities, the three girls she would soon start calling sisters, used those to fight crime and save lives.

Truth be told, it wasn't exactly her call. It was her mother that called the shots and to be honest, what man would go for a woman scientist that would tell them on the first date that they had a super-powered daughter that could lift cars and fly? Or worse, that she re-arranged her own daughter's DNA, that she mingled with it, for a good cause nonetheless. Renee learned to live in secrecy, especially after her mother re-designed her DNA, without knowing exactly what would happen. It was the reason she had the obnoxious pink hair instead of the lush brown her mother had, for instance.

Whatever the consequences, the girl was thankful for the second chance, especially after she had been doomed to live her life as a vegetable, paralyzed and with no hope of recovering, from a car accident that she was the victim of while she was only 6. Her mother's ambition to save her from that kind of life was what had her breathing today, able to enjoy her life to the absolute fullest and there was no way in hell she was ever going to blame her mother for anything, not even the moments when she would crack a mug in her hand accidentally, not even when she had to hide her potential.

Life was good that way. It was when she met professor Utonium that Renee started to rebel, up until the moment she realized her hatred was misplaced and childish, after a heart-to-heart talk with the man.

Her feet started to move towards the bus station as she remembered the discussion and how awkward it had been for both of them. Despite being able to fly, she still refused to show off any of her powers, choosing to live normally, or as normally as she was able without getting anyone's unwanted attention. Being a hero meant being on the radar, being exposed and out there, the target of many things that were not good; the three sisters were strong, strong enough to withstand it all.

She wasn't.

It came to this point, though, the point where she would have to make a choice, after all, the city was becoming more restless and three twenty year old girls could handle so much between university courses and social life. It was understandable and Renee couldn't help but feel selfish for avoiding the topic as much as she could.

As she grew with the girls she also came to know their enemies, learned their customs, stole some tips, some things from their experience that helped a lot with controlling her own abilities. There were only three other people out there that were as powerful as the girls...or had the potential to bring them down, but thankfully they made a truce. The Rowdyruff Boys were no easy topic to talk about, surely. At least they grew up enough to think for themselves and make choices that would benefit both parties. Renee didn't like their kind, she avoided the names and the faces, always leaving if she even caught a glimpse of red caps or forest green eyes or blond jock-like guys. As far as she was concerned, they were obnoxious, disgusting and wild. If they weren't fooling around with girls or cars or motorcycles, they were creating trouble in bars or other areas that the girls had to go to in order to settle things down.

As the bus came to a halt in the station, Renee quietly stood straight from leaning on the glass wall of the small bus stop settlement and moved towards the vehicle, busily rummaging through her pocket for the permit. However, her movement came to an abrupt end when a red sports car screeched in front of the bus, stopping just in front of her and making it hard for the driver to leave. Speaking of the devil, or rather, devils, three young men occupied the car, music blasting in vulgar lyrics and making the pinkette settle her gaze over the redheaded driver, the tuffs of long and slightly wild hair gathered in a messy ponytail and top hidden underneath a familiar red cap turned backwards. Brick, as she learned his name was, motioned for her to come close to the car window which was rolled down. Avoiding attention and staying off any radar was what Renee preferred and right now, if she wasn't going to comply, she would turn eyes towards her. Glancing around her, she grunted and walked up to the window, leaning down to be eye-level with the red-eyed ruff. Apparently, he was not alone either. There was his brother, Butch, in the passenger seat and Boomer in the backseat, with a blonde girl she saw around the university campus where the girls went.

"What do you want?" if it wasn't clear she avoided them like the plague, her ice-cold tone surely did the trick, because the red ruff was smirking and the green ruff turned to lock his eyes on her as well. "She talks guys!" -well then. "She could always talk. She just chose to not talk to you." it was a dumb move to try and sass this monster of a man, but Renee wasn't particularly in the mood to have her first encounter with the snakes and let them put her down.

Ignoring her remark completely, he carried his smirk as if nothing even happened and leaned closer to stare her in the eye. "Where you headed pinky? Have any idea where the girls are at?" what in the hell was happening here? Why was he asking her this? "Home...where I am headed too...obviously." her expression was void of any kind of emotion, simply neutral and calm. "Great, means I can give you a ride since I wanna talk to Red." so he wanted to talk to Blossom. It was no secret that Blossom and Brick dated briefly. It didn't work out and they were on and off for a bit until they just dropped it -the worst was that it was Blossom who kept trying and he was the one always letting her down.

"No thanks. Perfectly capable of giving myself a ride. I can pass a message to her, though." the pinkette shrugged with indifference, rejecting the offer without second thought. Judging by the fish lips in the backseat, there were a million germs just waiting to be hosted in someone's body just by getting into that car...not to add the identity of those in it. Her refusal seemed to wipe off the smirk from Brick's face, for a moment at least, but his eyes turned darker and the smirk was back on his lips, this time wicked.

"Listen pinky, I'm trying to be a nice-" "I was listening and I said no," the girl interrupted him, this time a tinge of annoyance in her voice. It was bad enough she was talking to him, now she had to fend him off like the creep he was? This struck a nerve and in an instant, his hand shot out and grabbed hers above the wrist, yanking her closer and almost bending her through the window of the car, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking." at first, Renee was shocked, surprised, caught offguard, all of the above, but after the initial shock and the apparent strength with which he decided he could handle her, the young woman turned from calm to angry and irritated, patience running low. Throwing her secret out the window, she yanked her hand back, pulling the red ruff with her and grabbing his wrist with her free hand, blue eyes glaring into his reds. "Let go of my fucking hand." and she squeezed tight, earning her a confused look from the ruff, before his face contorted into shock and disbelief, his hand letting go of hers in an instant. His green brother remained eerily silent throughout the encounter, while the blond was fooling around with the girl in the back, until Brick yanked away from Renee.

"What the fuck... _what the fuck'_?" stepping away from the car with a look of satisfaction on her face, the pinkette quickly turned towards the bus and climbed inside, swiping her permit and taking a seat near the window just as the doors closed. The dread came later during her ride, when she realized what she had done and how it could end up biting her in the ass. As she stared at her reflection in the glass window with nervous eyes, the girl understood that her slip would have consequences.

••••••

 _the next morning_

"You did what?!" -Renee stopped mid-pulling her sneakers on and sheepishly looked at Blossom, much like a child would look at a parent while they would chide them. "I didn't show off or fly into the horizon or say anything! He grabbed my wrist, okay? I was getting really fed up there!" because she was and she had a valid reason to stop acting like the fourth wheel on a tricycle all the time. The redhead wasn't having it, however. She pinched the bridge of her nose and watched the other girl from under her lashes in a controlled rage kind of way. This was the scary part about the pink powerpuff, she didn't yell or scream or punch, she just looked at you viciously.

"Do you even realize what this means? It inevitably shoves you into this -into our -" but she stopped before she could even continue with that idea, instead, she crossed her arms over her chest "You didn't want attention? Now you clearly have it." with that, she left Renee's bedroom. Was that really the issue? That she got their attention or that it was Brick that made the discovery? For someone that was so coldly logical at certain moments, it was a surprise that she could get emotionally flustered.

"It's not like...that…" a sigh left the pinkette as she returned to lacing her boots, a frown crested onto her face this time. There was a subtle line that Renee had to watch and it had to do specifically with Brick, given the two reds' involvement with each other. Yes, they were handsome for three psychotic villainous assholes, but that didn't mean she was gonna go shove her morals and principles just to -ugh.

Well, time to get her ass to her job.

Standing up from the bed, she tested her new boots and went to grab her backpack, a far easier way to carry shit around than carrying a purse like most ladies her age. Granted, she was one year older than the girls and Blossom along with Bubbles used purses like their lives depended on them, however, she would empathize with Buttercup here and stay casual. Especially since she was carrying her sneakers inside.

The cafe was almost empty as per usual in the morning, save for a couple and two girls in another booth. Renee quickly went to get dressed accordingly and passed a few hello's to her fellow co-workers on the way, before she took her spot as the barista. Mitch, one the guys currently there made a point to whistle after her, mostly just for fun and because they messed with each other like an old married couple. He was her closest friend outside of the job as well and it helped with making her feel better about her lonely breaks and taking orders every few hours. "So what have you been up to, candy floss?"

"Oh, you know, the usual, looking for part-time jobs, eating, sleeping, taking over the world," at that he snickered and shoved his shoulder into her own with a grin on his face. "You'd like that wouldn't ya?"

"Hell yeah, I'd ban morning shifts and cancel monday." she replied with a cheeky grin of her own, taking a cloth and wiping down the counter while she was still free. "Yeah, but then you'd have a week that starts with tuesday and everyone will start hating it just as much."

"True. Any news on Robin? The girls didn't see her at courses either, is her mom okay?"

"Oh yeah, she had the surgery, so she's gonna be missing for a while, took the whole week off. Think her mom's gonna recover just well, don't worry,"

"Poor girl, I should give her a call when I can...actually, remind me to call her after work,"

"Sure thing, candy floss."

"Stop that." the pinkette gave the teenage boy the stink eye, in mock offense. "What was that candy floss?" he continued with a devil may care smile "Dude, people will start thinking that's my name, I don't wanna be like-"

"Are you two quite done?" the extremely annoying pitch voice of the one who you do not speak of cut through the friendly banter. Princess Morbucks, aka the devil, was at the counter. When did she even get in? Renee could swear she didn't hear the door bell ring.

"Hey Princess, same as always?"

"Of course. What do you take me for? An indecisive peasant?" there we go; before she could hear more of the monologue, Renee quickly marked the order and passed it to Mitch to make it. As usual, she swiped her card and the drink was paid for. "So how are the powerpuffs. Must be interesting living with them under the same tiny roof."

"It's...they are fine?"

"Brick is sniffing around, by the way, asked me about you last night." that made the pinkette stop abruptly from busying herself with the cups, reluctantly looking at Princess while she waited for her drink. Of course the spoiled rich bitch knew Brick, they were both villains at some point and rolled around the same social circles. The only reason why these rowdy villains didn't eat the ginger girl at the counter whole, was because she had money and influence and that made her almost untouchable. The fact that the leader of the ruffs was already asking about her made her skin crawl, though.

"Any reason why he was asking about me?" she asked cautiously, trying to keep her voice under control. "You tell me."

"Must be because he's looking for Blossom and wanted me to pass a message to her-" the obnoxious laugh from the other girl startled Renee and had her glare back at the culprit. "Oh you are precious! If he wanted Blossom he'd go straight up to her. Clearly you don't know him at all!"

"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much."

"Well, I told him where you work so-" "What!?" Mitch almost dropped the coffee at Renee's screech. "Why the hell did you tell him where I work?! Jesus, what the hell are you even thinking?! I want nothing to do with those hooligans-"

"Don't you even dare yell at me, peasant. He asked, I answered. What's the big deal anyway?" how could she act so casual about it? Renee was furious. Incredulously, she kept staring at the girl as she sipped her coffee calmly and then proceeded to hop on the stool at the counter on Mitch's side. This time, the boy decided to clear the tension that settled heavily.

"Princess, I shouldn't be one to talk but...they are some pretty bad dudes that no one really wants to get involved with. You should've asked Renee first.." the whole advice fell on deaf ears, because all Morbucks did was scoff and roll her eyes. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"With those hooligans? You never know! That's exactly my point."

••••••••

At four o'clock, Renee was finished with her shift and quickly made her way towards home, taking shortcuts and constantly looking over her shoulder. Perhaps it wasn't healthy to be so paranoid, especially for someone that could actually do something to defend herself, but she couldn't help but feel as if she made a big mistake that she was going to pay for later. That's how karma worked.

Thankfully, she got home safe and unfollowed. That night was a challenge, because she kept waking up and looking at the window, before hiding under her blankets again and overthinking all the possible scenarios in which her life could go downhill.

"Ugh! I ain't got time for this."

While it was admirable that the ruffs were trying to get an education, she knew better than to assume that they changed their ways completely. It was in their nature to be this way and that's why they were created no? That's what Blossom told her. They were unpredictable and dangerous, but look at the irony in that when she started dating their leader. Of course, the thief calling out the other thief.

Her mother didn't pry when she saw Renee's pale face when she got home for dinner, thank heavens, so she had one less thing to explain, but she was sure the topic would come up when she'd catch her alone. Then there was Blossom, silent throughout the ordeal, all while the other two sister chatted and laughed with the Professor and her mom.


	2. Chapter 2

"So tell Buttercup to be there, a'ight? It's gonna be a wild party."

It started with that invitation, one week after the incident, while you were on break eating your sad sandwich with Mitch. No one resurfaced the topic of the ruffs and life continued on like a normal cacophony of sorts that felt bland for once. Not that you were expecting anything grand...or wanted anything for that matter. Normalcy was good. It was comfortable.

"Yeah, sure, gonna pass that on." and why did you accept that invitation? Mitch was the bad boy you didn't wanna get deep with because you just knew he would play you and become that summer-love disappointment that you would end up avoiding. Friendship with him was do-able, however.

So here you were, outside a broken down looking house with the background sound of a song that was too chill for the agitation inside. It was also why you opted to get out of there. Buttercup was still inside; Blossom and Bubbles blatantly refused to be anywhere around the party.

If you ignored the blaring vibrations from the house, you could almost relax at how eerie and dark the streets looked. Mitch lived in the slums, his grandmother having passed away a few years back and leaving him with a surprising amount of money that gave him the opportunity to move from the trailer park and into something he could call home. Granted, it wasn't the best neighborhood and it was known to be the Gan Green Gang's turf, but right at this moment, the streets were looking serene.

You were checking jobs online and sitting on the stairs to the doorway, browsing boringly and hoping that you'd get a chance at a better salary somewhere else. The list was limited, of course, because it was Townsville. If you hadn't moved from Citiesville you would probably have had more opportunities but love was blind and apparently, so was your mother when it came down to the do. Just as you were about to give up, the sound of powerful wind and feet on pavement made you look up before locking your phone.

Three very familiar faces stared back at you and you could only stare right back, tempted to blame it on the weed. It wasn't possible, was it? Brows furrowed together, you reached over to your exposed thigh and pinched yourself.

" _Shit._ " yeah, and you were drowning in it at this point.

The rowdies were here. Were they invited by any chance? That was a possibility, maybe they wouldn't recognize you -oh, who were you kidding? How many chicks with pink hair spent time with the puffs all the damn time? Just you. Swallowing thickly, you slowly stood up from the stair, unsure of what you should do, phone gripped tight in your - _CRACK_.

Shit. shit. Shit. shit. How the fuck were you supposed to call Buttercup now? You were now staring comically at the broken pieces of the phone in your hand. So much for control. As if on cue, one of the pieces hit the ground and all the eyes were on you.

"Cheap phone. Plastic. Anyone can break one of these, right? Even a toddler because of no strength, get it? Even a toddler can break one of these... _ha ha...good times. Good times._ "

Brick's eyes were wicked, Butch was impatient and Boomer, well...he was sticking his finger in his nose. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the redhead took a step forward and you reciprocated with a step back, raising both arms in defense. "Buttercup is inside! I'm warning you!"

"Her hair looks like candy floss." came the very educated observation from the blonde ruff, making both his brothers send a glance and a cringe towards him. "You think I can eat her-"

 _Oh hell no._ "What the hell, fuck off you pervert!" for some reason, you found the fire in you to put your foot down at that. "Oh, look, she's got some spunk. Here I thought she was the no personality-no brains kinda chick." and that comment hurt more than you let on.

"Yeah, well, to be honest, I don't think there's much to her, Brick. Let's just go inside before I die of old age waiting here."

"Why am I a pervert?"

"Hey pinky, to be honest, the only way you'll ever get laid is if you crawl up a chicken's ass and wait." _what?_ You paled at the insult the redhead threw at you, before your cheeks turned bright red from the embarrassment. Did you just get insulted so bad that you could hear your ego crack in two? Yes.

"Fuck you." even you were surprised by the menacing tone as you spat that out, blue eyes burning with fury you haven't felt in a long time, an ancient old thread so stretched that you were afraid of it snapping. The fact that the two other ruffs were laughing so hard at your expense was even more daunting to your confidence.

"And she's as sharp as a bowling ball." the green-eyed one added, cackling along, joining into what was becoming a game of who pissed you off more. "As smart as bait!"

"Her face looks like it caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork!"

"Fuck you!"

"I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out a smarter comeback than what you just said -pfffft."

"I got another one! Given how you cling to the powerpuffs I'd suggest you go on eBay and see if they have a life on sale."

"F-fuck you…" this time you were trembling, hands balled into fists.

"The only thing that goes erect when I'm near you is my middle finger. Don't ever call my bro a pervert ever again." and for emphasis, the redhead flipped you the bird using both his hands, winking at the end with a smug grin on his face.

What they didn't know about you was that you had a short-temper and the moment you started getting put down by these...these retarded apes with penises for brains, you knew you had it. Before you knew what you were doing, you were in the air, charging at Brick with a battle cry that could put Attila the hun to shame.

The strength with which you lunged at him and the collision with his body was so powerful that he was sent back rolling, with your fists in his face, straight through an abandoned building's walls and stopping when his body landed on the hard ground after breaking a tree. You didn't stop there.

This bitch was going to get it, something primal snapped within you and you had to show him who he was messing with. Straddling his torso, you brought your fists down repeatedly, giving him no real time to recover and pouring every bit of strength in every punch until your knuckles became bloody and numb. Your hair was wild and your eyes were predatory, something inside you giddy and the adrenaline pumping through your veins.

It felt nice to be the one in control.

A sickening crack made you grin, but that was short lived. The green ruff was on you a second later, throwing you from over his brother and making you hit the floor and slide on your back some meters away. They weren't laughing now, were they? "Why the fuck aren't you laughing!?" even your voice was shaky but excited. You were back on your feet in a second, floating up in the air and lunging right back at the two like a starving wolf. This time, it was Boomer that kicked you mid-air, intercepting you right in the middle from your right side and sending you crashing through the building from earlier.

The whole thing came down over you along with the metal railings and rubble from earlier, blocking you for almost five minutes. The powerful sound was enough to make everyone from Mitch's house come out and watch the scene with their mouths open, including Buttercup, who was currently looking around for you frantically.

"Renee!"

With newfound rage, you shoved the heavy blocks of concrete and brick off of you, throwing them away and missing some guy by a few inches when you punched a chunk of wall from your side. All the years of holding back, controlling everything, letting everyone control your decisions, your life, your powers, it was finally the end of that. The leash had snapped.

You flew up from the ruins of the building and landed on top of the remains, wide unfocused eyes trying to find your enemies. "Renee!" you didn't even turn to look when Buttercup yelled your name, you were so angry, so overwhelmed by all these emotions. It almost felt like drowning.

And you were slowly slipping deeper.

You bent your knees, ready to speed towards the trio, ignoring the nasty bruises already forming on a large portion of your body or the gash on your leg from one of the railings. This time, Buttercup drop-kicked you hard enough to send you flying forward and hit the dirt face first, a cry of pain leaving your mouth. Cracked rib? You would limp over there if you had to.

It didn't matter.

Before you could lift your shaking body up again, she jumped on your back in an effort to straddle you, pressing you down with all her strength as you struggled like a rabid animal, face shoved down as you screamed bloody murder, her knees digging into your shoulder blades and spine.

"God damn it Renee! Stop it!" that was the last warning, because afterwards you felt one last hard hit over the back of your head and you were out like a light. When your body went completely still, Buttercup stood up, breathing hard and regarding your figure, checking for the damage. Brick was sporting a pretty damaged face, held up by Boomer, maybe even a broken limb and some ribs, while Butch was standing in front of the two, ready to defend and rip apart. Tonight was not a good night.

"The fuck were ya thinking, you stupid twats?" the brunette roared at them, specifically at Brick "The fuck did you do?!"

Butch glared at his counterpart, keeping a fighting stance just in case. "Brick wanted to validate his belief that she was another puff, like you three. The plan was to piss her off enough to have her lash out, not...this." he growled back, clearly irritated by the whole situation.

"She ain't a puff you stupid fuck! Why couldn't ya have acted like normal fucking people and asked instead of acting out your dumb plan?!" now she was angry. What the hell were they even thinking? How did they even know about you having powers, how did they end up suspecting this? Her eyes turned back to your limp body, twisted in the dirt, bloody and bruised. Clenching her teeth and balling her fists, she glared once more at the trio and then returned to you.

"This isn't over," Butch added through gritted teeth, approaching his brothers. Brick was in bad condition, but he knew the asshole was satisfied with what he managed to find out. For the smartest of their group he sure acted stupid right now. Granted, it was his fault as well for egging him on.

"Wasn't expecting it to be. That's just too damn easy for your overly-complex asses, ain't it?" that said, she rolled her shoulders, picked you up effortlessly in her arms and flew off in a streak of green without even saying goodbye to Mitch or anyone that was there for that matter.

The only sister that had a connection with the ruffs was Blossom. Her involvement with Brick gave Buttercup the perfect scenario in which her dearest sister siphoned everything to the asshole and endangered their newest family member.

"In the name of love. I fuckin' swear I'm gonna lose my shit." she muttered to herself as she soared through the sky in the direction of the Utonium residence.

••••••••

When you came to, your whole body was hurting and your vision was blurry. In fact, you decided it was better to keep your eyes closed and remain still as to avoid any more pain when you tried to tense a muscle here and there. At first you wondered what happened, but as you sat there and took the headache in, images and snippets came back to you.

Distant voices approached your location and the smell of antiseptic pretty much told you where you were. The clinical scent all around was familiar. Like that time back then…

"...then who? Please enlighten my dumb ass brain!?"

"Language!"

"Fuck language, Blossom!"

Oh, Buttercup sounded pissed off. What did Blossom do? "It wasn't me that told him about her secret! She did it herself." Right. Buttercup didn't know about the incident. You only told the pink puff about it. You groaned loud enough for both of them to shut up.

"I...did." it sounded like someone was strangling a crow, but you hoped it got your point across "Shut...shut up….headache."

"Renee what the fuck?!" two more voices joined in and you knew you were screwed by the angry footsteps of your mother. "Blossom, Buttercup, could I have a moment with her?" even the tone gave her up. The clank of the door getting shut was all the sound that followed.

"Can you open your eyes, sweetie?" you gurgled a no, but tried anyway. "Your body is healing faster than a normal human's, you won't be in here for too long." she added as she sat down by your side of the bed.

"Buttercup told me what happened...I want to hear your side of the story as well."

How could you explain to her just how angry you felt then? How do you explain the overwhelming feeling of freedom and raw strength that left you high and starving? The power you felt, the adrenaline, it was so...good.

Your throat burned and your eyes were watery before you knew it.

"I...I felt so...so angry…" you choked on the word. Did this make you dangerous? Suddenly the cold reality of the situation slapped you like a sack of bricks. What if you lost it like this again? What if you hurt someone you love only because of some petty argument? What if Buttercup hadn't stopped you?

Would you have continued until you died or killed the other person?

"Shh…" your mother's warm embrace felt so calming. You didn't even realize your were crying and hiccuping until she hugged you gently. "Shhh...it's going to be alright baby." was it? Because you felt like breaking at the seams.

••••••••

 _"Hey baby!"_

 _Dad! Your little self skipped and giggled when the blond haired man chased you, laughing. You loved his laugh. Suddenly, you were scooped up and you squealed as he twirled with you in his arms. "Caught you,"_

 _He had the most mesmerizing green eyes. You forgot how he looked like. Baby blues remained stuck and hypnotized as you tried to remember every small thing about his face. The screeches of tires in the distance made your bottom lip tremble and your face to twist in sadness. "Dad...daddy…" your small hands wrapped around his neck and you hugged him as tight as you could. If only you could hold tighter...tighter…_

 _With wide eyes you watched as the truck abruptly sped towards you and your arms -wait, you were grown up again. It hit so hard, the body of your father not enough of a shield for the impending accident, even as you tried to scream, nothing came out of your mouth._

 _He smiled down at you._

Gasping and snapping your eyes open, you fell back on the hospital bed with a thud. Frantically, you sat up and looked around -why were you floating in your sleep? Your heart was thundering in your chest and you breathed heavily, taking air in like you kept your breath in for the longest time.

Trying to calm down, you brought your knees up and buried your face in your arms. It had been a week since that party incident and well, you healed fast given the damage on your body, but not as fast as the powerpuff girls did. Thankfully you would be out tomorrow and able to tackle down this problem before it ate you from the inside out.

••••••••

"Hey Brick…"

"What do you want Red?"

"Really? You told Renee some time ago to pass a message to me and now you're acting like I am the one looking for you?" the redhead angrily accused him, pointing a finger in his direction. This was their meeting spot, the same place they met all those years back when they first started dating and called it their own secret haven away from their responsibilities and statuses. When they were here she wasn't a hero and he wasn't a villain.

The rooftop they were on belonged to a building that was far away enough from the center of Townsville and tall enough to overlook the city's lights at night. The view was romantic, perfect and a reminder of what they were in the past. The red ruff glared at her and she melted, placing her hands on her hips as she looked away. "Are you alright? I heard from Buttercup that Renee hurt you-"

"I'm fine." he interrupted her with a grunt. His red eyes bored over her face in a very detached way that made her pink orbs falter. Was there anything there anymore? Truth be told, after the first year in which Renee became part of their family, their relationship became brittle and slowly faded to nothing and he decided to end it before it became too awkward. She was hurt by his decision, yet followed along.

"How's she?" he stepped closer to the ledge and turned to watch the light as he quietly waited for her answer. "Why are you concerned?" Blossom was quick to snap at him, somehow annoyed by the fact that he asked about her step-sister instead of her own health. She had to get a grip on this bubbling jealousy because it made her lose sight.

"Cause I'm curious. She looked pretty bad when your sister took her away."

"She's very much fine-"

"Is she like us? Is she a powerpuff?" was this really what was eating at him? The girl scrunched her face and glared down at her high heels. "No, she's not like us, Brick." it would deter his interest in her, right? Why was she even thinking like that? Just because he asked how she was didn't mean he was interested in Renee.

"Then how can she do all that? Is she some kind of secret weapon? Were you keeping her hidden to use her against us if we ever broke the truce-" "No! Why would you ever think that?" his eyes were like lava on her and they made a chill run down her spine. "We would...I would never...Brick…" her voice was getting weaker and she reached forward, tugging on the sleeve of his red hoodie.

"It was her choice to stay hidden...she wanted to be...normal…" the redhead laughed bitterly "It irks me how she has a choice, you know?" she admitted shamefully to her counterpart. Then again, she lived in Citiesville, a place where superpowers were banned, if her memory served her right.

"How does she-" he was relentless in his interrogation, pulling away from her touch. "I don't know! Her mother explained everything to the Professor...I didn't care…"

With a sigh, Brick turned his attention back to the view, hands stuffed in his pockets as he weighed his options. Blossom knew for a fact that he was incredibly smart, even if he never showed it to anyone else, she knew he was brilliant; an incredible tactician and strategist. Nothing happened without him knowing about it and she was in love with all that...still.

"Hey...Brick." he glanced at her and she took that opportunity to cup his face with both her hands and lean up, red lips meeting chapped ones. She shuddered at the contact, but he pulled away further, recoiled from the sudden move. Her skin was already missing the warmth that spread through her body in that second their kiss lasted.

"Don't do this shit Red…"

"I miss you."

He groaned, bringing one hand over his face and rubbing at his forehead with a frown. Another thing she knew about him was that he was no good with feelings and had a hard time expressing how he felt, but at the same time, he could be brutally direct with how he could make someone feel. "Look, I'm not - _shit_. I'm over this, Red."

"Brick-"

"No, you don't know what you want. You're hot and cold and you push me away and then drag me back, you snap at me and then you're all nice...you break up and make up like it's a damn game...like you're hooked on the drama or something." he gritted his teeth and turned his back to her.

"I'm over this...you should get over it too...it's not working, okay? It's not and I got tired of trying to always meet your demands and be understanding all the damn time…"

"Brick, I promise-"

He laughed cruelly at that, hovering above the ground. "You love making those don'tcha?" with that, he was gone, a red streak the only evidence that he had been there in the first place. Heartbroken, Blossom remained there, still as stone, unable to figure out how she felt, a plethora of emotions twisting in her stomach.

"Goodnight…"


	3. Chapter 3

It was nice to be able to use your powers, like a heavy weight had been lifted from your shoulders for once. As soon as you returned home, you had a long discussion with your mother about how you could use your abilities without having to worry about people finding out anymore. From her scientific point of view, such a long time of trying to suppress them made them take over you instead of the other way around, much like a volcano that was trying to erupt but could because something was blocking the top.

It made sense. It's also why you felt high on power and adrenaline.

Work was avoided for one more week. You concluded that you weren't in the mood to have to face Mitch after all that fiasco. What if he was afraid of you? You didn't even have a phone that you could be reached on any more.

Alas, floating in the air, above the clouds was rather relaxing. You had your arms behind your head, one leg crossed over the other, basking in the sun. For once, you felt at peace with yourself. Now that the cat was out of the bag, you knew there were storms coming, especially with the girls and their...superhero statuses.

But what did you really want?

Playing hero seemed...tiring. But if you weren't a hero, did that make you a villain? Your eyes opened and you gazed up at the blue sky. Was there a grey area? Your thoughts slithered to the three rowdies. They didn't seem to have any obligations and they weren't...exactly wreaking havoc either. Butch and that undercut hairstyle of his along with those green eyes suddenly came to your mind. Oh yeah...green eyes. Green like your father's.

There was no fear in them when he threw you off his brother. There was no fear in Brick's red eyes either...they must be used to beatings and fucked up situations, you reason with yourself. You twist your body so that you're face down now, legs up in a crouch as you remain upside down in the air.

Time to head back home.

••••••••••

It was back at university when you saw the rowdyruff apes again. Unfortunately that was the only place where you had to suck it up and move on, thankfully they rarely came to courses. Image your surprise when you found out they went to highschool with the girls too and primary school -what kind of fuckery was that? And how much did they have to handle?

They were on the stairs, chatting busily, Butch was smoking and staring at something to his left side, Boomer was showing Brick something on his phone and oh...Brick looked fine. Of course he did. It left some kind of sour aftertaste that he didn't hurt just as much.

Mission impossible: _getting through the doors without being spotted._

And it was called impossible for a reason, because as soon as you stepped foot on the first stair, their eyes were on you. In exchange you froze up as well, muscles tense and backpack gripped tight in your hand.

"Yo, pinky, do you know where Bubbles is?"

What? You just had to look to even believe the fact that the blue ruff even asked you a question. Was he serious? Butch exhaled a lazy swirl of smoke in your direction, while his eyes stayed completely focused on you and your every move, much like an apex predator. Brick's body was relaxed, he only stopped what he was doing for a bit before returning to the phone that he now took from his blonde brother. It strangely felt as if he had just measured you from head to toe.

"Uh…she's...already inside?" to your knowledge, today was a full course day for the girls.

"Aw damn, missed her! Told'ja we should've come earlier, Brick." the redhead gave his brother a nasty look and shook his head in what looked like annoyance. As if realizing something, Boomer's face lightened up. " _OOOh_! Wait, we don't need Bubbles anymore! You already checked up on her because she's here so we don't need to ask Bubbles how she's doing, duh!" he tapped his forehead with his fist.

Butch looked at his brother incredulously, cigarette smoking itself as a pregnant pause fell over. In an instant, Brick was on his feet and Boomer was kicked off the stairs, missing you by a few inches as he tumbled on the ground and hit a fence. You couldn't help but stare after him with your mouth agape.

Wait...what?

Butch snorted and threw his cigarette butt away, not bothering to put it out. "Well then…" he also stood up, making you turn back to the two remaining ruffs. Now that you were actually close enough to observe them in more detail, you could tell that both were athletic, muscular but not buff. Brick's hair was out of its usual ponytail and fell down to his mid-back, his signature red cap turned backwards. He was sporting a denim vest and a white t-shirt underneath, several rounds of black leather strings wrapped around his neck and then his wrists, black baggy pants tucked into a mean looking pair of black combat boots and fingerless red gloves. Butch was simpler, he had a green shirt under a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up and said hoodie pulled over his head, black sweatpants that became slimmer over the calves and a pair of black and green sneakers that looked rather worn-out.

You didn't even realize you were staring and blatantly checking them out until Brick got in your face. Wow, his eyes sure were red. Your own eyes widened and you back away in a sort of submissive way, standing aside and letting him pass by you. He went straight for Boomer who was whining and pouting about getting hit. As soon as he was some safe distance away, Butch stepped closer to you until his shoulder almost brushed by you. He glanced at you for a split of a second and "Be here at midnight. Tonight." that was that.

He joined his brothers after this whispered message.

You were left dumbfounded, watching as the three bickered before taking off to only god knows where. "...what the fuck just happened?"

••••••••••

Later that night, you were lounged on your bed stuffing your face with chips and an energy drink, browsing the Tv for some decent channels to watch. Whatever Butch wanted with you, a last meal was in order. You'd live your last moments in utter bliss.

Knocking on your bedroom door stopped you mid-way to a hand of chips getting shoved in your mouth. Instead, you took a sip from your drink and settled back comfortably. "Come in!"

Of course it was Blossom. She always had a knack for almost midnight meaningful conversations.

She stayed by the doorway, eyeing your outfit and then the pig-out session you were deep into. "What's up Bloss?" you asked without even looking at her, working the remote again. "Are you going somewhere?" she replied with a question. God, you hated when that happened.

"Date." and that's when you decided to fuck with her. "Oh, this late?"

"Yeah, he likes burning the midnight oil."

After a few moments of silence, she walked over to your bed and sat down on the side. Here it came. "You shouldn't eat junk food so late at night, date or not." you rolled your eyes and stuffed another handful of chips in your mouth. Noticing your apprehensive posture, she cleared her throat.

"Brick asked how you were doing."

So this is what it was about. Furtively glancing at her, you stopped on the Discovery channel. "Yeah, I know. He came looking for me today to check on me. He has the weirdest ways of showing concern for the consequences of his actions." why not play on her jealous streak?

"O-oh?" a pause "I wasn't aware that -I told him you were fine. Did he ask about me?"

"Nah, just checked on me and left."

"Ah, I see." well, this was getting awkward already. You looked at the clock on your nightstand. Five minutes to midnight. "Well, I gotta go. Night, Bloss." that was her cue to leave and she took it in stride, fumbling to the door and muttering a 'night, have fun' before closing the door.

Going out the door and leaving through the entrance way would surely have her follow you. Your gaze moved on to the window of your room. It was round and could easily fit you. Ah, the perks of being able to leave the house unnoticed.

••••••••••

Ten minutes later and you finally landed in the eerie looking front of the university grounds. The silence was creepy as all hell, but then again, everything looked abandoned and scary at night. Like the infant you were at heart, you couldn't help but despise the dark. Even in the house when you woke up to get a glass of water, you would make sure the whole house's lights were on. A hassle, your mother once remarked, but it helped you feel safe in that bubble of yours.

The street light was dim and one lightbulb was going on and off in a sort of horror story way. All in all, you were pretty tense and jumpy. It came as no surprise that you screeched and almost sucker punched Butch when he came from behind and placed his hand over your shoulder.

"The fuck's your problem?"

"My p-p-problem?! Why do you sneak on me like that?" you were forgetting who you were talking to, thanks to the way your heart raced and how your stomach was in knots. His glare was quick to remind you, though and you clamped your mouth shut until you had calmed down.

"Why did you call me here anyway?" you managed to choke out as you regarded him. He was dressed in the earlier attire, save for the hoodie, revealing a green muscle shirt. Your question went unanswered, however, because all he did was glance around until you were calm again. Having someone here helped with your childish fear.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"You'll see. Follow." you shot him a weary look. A week and so back he was the one that threw you to oblivion. Making good decisions wasn't your forte either and your curiosity got the best of you most of of the time. "Fine."

••••••••••

The junkyard?

As you both landed, you couldn't help but wonder if he was gonna kill you and hide your body under a hunk of garbage and metal. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"You give yourself too much credit." -ouch. Well, shit. At least you got that out of the way.

"So why are we here?"

He was looking around as if trying to spot something, searching for an area. When he was satisfied, he calmly walked towards the clearing and then climbed over a mountain of used stuff and metal scraps, grabbing something and testing it in his hands first. Trying to understand what he was doing was futile. He abruptly turned in your direction and threw the object he had been inspecting, nearly whacking you in the face with it if you wouldn't have jumped away in time. "What the hell!?"

A baseball bat? You crouched down and grabbed it with a frown on your face. What the hell did he want you to do with it?

He jumped off the junk heap and regarded you, hopefully with some answers. "Don't take this as kindness or some useless shit like that. You're unstable -" he wiped his hands on his sweatpants "-that means you gotta learn how to get your shit together. You're a danger to my brothers is why I'm doing this. Next time I'm not just gonna throw you around. I'm gonna kill you if you pull that shit again." and when he made eye contact with you, a cold shiver ran down your spine. He meant every word.

"Learning to control all that is both in my advantage and yours, so do what I say." when you didn't answer, he continued "Use that baseball bat. Destroy, break, shatter, punch and kick."

What?

"C'mon."

You looked at the bat and then at some old broken TV to your left. He wanted you to let out your anger through breaking stuff? Well, you read that screaming was therapeutic, but this was a whole new level of what the fuck. Tentatively, you walked over to the side and swung the bat weakly at the piece of junk, a faint clank resounding around you.

"You scared it's gonna bite or somethin'? Knew this was a waste of my time. You're just like them…"

Like them? Like your step-sisters he meant? Why did that make you angry? You pulled the bat back and this time brought it down with so much force over the old TV that it didn't just shatter to pieces, it was sent flying in an arch over the junkyard.

"Atta girl."

That was the start of a night full of unleashed rage. Raw and unbinded. You destroyed and smacked the bat through everything in your path, screaming and grunting until you got weaker and weaker. Butch didn't say anything, he only watched from a safe distance, sitting on a piece of a sofa cushion and occasionally tapping away at his phone.

When you fell back on your butt, panting and dropping the bat from your grasp, you knew you had exhausted enough pent-up anger to last you enough. For some reason you felt comfortable doing all that in front of the green ruff, no matter how many profanities left your lips. Did he do this too? It was incredibly satisfying and relaxing now that you looked at your handywork.

"Feeling like you got your shit together?"

You sat up with your legs crossed indian-style, elbows on your knees. "No amount of destruction can make that miracle happen." whoever in this wide world had their shit together? He plopped down next to you, mimicking your position and shoving a can in your face. Without asking, you took it from him and pulled the key, opening it. "Where did you even keep these?" you asked, looking at his own can of energy drink and then at yours.

"Pocket."

It wasn't a big can, so it made sense. Shrugging, you took a sip and looked up at the slowly brightening sky. Had you really spent the whole night with Butch, damaging the junkyard property?

You both watched the sun rise in comfortable silence. This felt nice. Your eyes moved sneakily over the ruff sitting next to you, taking in his appearance. He didn't seem tired, well, it was also his slightly tanned skin that gave him a healthy glow. His hands were big, strong and calloused and now that you were looking closely, you could see faint lines of scars littering his really muscled arms.

"Do you do this too?" he spared you a glance "When you're angry, I mean.." at that he took a chug of his drink and turned back to the sunrise.

"Yeah."

You knew you shouldn't take this for granted, but you couldn't fight the smile that broke over your lips. "The fuck are you smiling for?" how did he even catch you doing that?

"Nothing. Fuck off my back, geesh."

And to think you were hella freaked out by them two weeks ago. Despite the incident, Butch seemed….decent. Sure, you shouldn't be stupid enough to grasp at straws like this, because he was not as nice as he seemed now, otherwise he wouldn't have been an archenemy of the girls. Underestimating your opponent, getting attached, truce or not, was a big mistake.

••••••••••

When you returned in the morning, you were met by the tired and cranky face of Blossom at the kitchen table. She was stirring a cup of coffee in her hands.

"How was your date?"

Not even a good morning. She was ruthless this early. You passed by the table and went for the fridge to get some orange juice before you went to bed. Today you had no courses or responsibilities to worry about. "T'was nice." you shrugged, pulling the jug out and on the table.

"Is he nice?"

"Mhm." you filled your glass and returned the juice back to the fridge. "Did you go out with my ex-boyfriend?" the question almost had you sputter back the juice as you took a gulp. The jealousy and exhaustion in her voice made you understand some things: first, she had been tossing around all night thinking you went out with Brick, especially after you told her that he came for you yesterday, the second noticeable thing was the utter envy/jealousy in her voice as she didn't even use his name, just the title that was supposed to make you back off.

"What? What the hell Blossom?"

"Language." she sipped from her coffee.

You know what? You were done with this. She was subtly accusing you of being a piece of trash step-sister that put a hunk of muscle before her family. She was angry with you for no reason and kept pulling shit lectures out of her ass like a hypocrite of a higher class. Fine, you'd play along.

"What's it to you anyway? As far as I'm concerned, you two broke up, right?" you laughed bitterly, catching her off-guard "My relationships, my interest in someone, who I date or fuck is not your concern. You didn't see me coming at you when you would get on and off with the guy who, by the way, you made clear was an enemy, truce or not. What kind of hypocrite are you?"

You downed the glass and wiped your mouth with the palm of your hand. "Think we're done here." he pink puff was staring at you with wide eyes, up until you stomped up the stairs to your bedroom and disappeared from sight.

It was too early to deal with this.


	4. Chapter 4

_hey everyone!_

 _as I failed to add any introductions before, well, this is my own take on a ppg story_

 _it's mostly reader-insert as you can see, but in an oc-kind of way? oh well._

 _umm, pls leave reviews and favorite and follow and message me bc I love getting those!_

 _and I'm also curious if you guys like it or not ; D; /_

* * *

As soon as the week started, two days after the meeting with Butch, you decided to return to work, because who didn't need money? Thankfully, Mitch's shift was in the morning while yours was in the afternoon, that meant you dodged him flawlessly. Yes, you were a coward when it come down to giving explanations and facing people that you blatantly lied to...even if it was by omission.

Bubbles came over to visit you later when her courses were over with and when you made sure everyone had been served and the new trainee could handle himself, you went to her table and took your break, having got your own coffee in the meantime.

"Blossom is pretty angry," she drummed her fingers over the mug, looking very nervous and worried. Ah, leave it to her to be concerned about everyone's well being. "I'm sure she'll get over it, don't worry."

"Oh if only it were that easy. It's not that what you said was not true...especially after what she said to you…" ah, yes -apparently, Bubbles was up when the argument between you and Blossom happened and she heard most of everything. "I just feel like I should do something...maybe go and talk to Brick. If he talks to her then maybe she will calm down?"

That was the worst idea ever. It only enabled this toxic relationship they had. You cringed.

"Umm...I would stay far away from it all,"

"You should also tell her that you didn't meet Brick that night and that you just went with Robin to the club. She would settle down and apologize for her outburst."

You also lied to Bubbles and told her you were gone with Robin at a local club instead of meeting with the green ruff. It was better for her to know less. Wearily, you took another sip of your coffee. "Nah, let her boil. Serves her right."

"Renee." the blonde chided half-heartedly. You looked away sheepishly. "What? It's true." the blue puff shook her head and leaned over, tucking some stray hairs from your messy bun on top of your head. "You should bring that apron home so you can wash it. Look how dirty it is."

You didn't bother much with the apron you wore at work. It was a very dark green and splashed with so many types of coffee and drinks that it was looking like the menu. Now that you looked at it, you had to agree with her, though. "Yes mom." -in more ways than one, Bubbles became quite maternal with her sisters and you, even taking care of the home chores, from doing the laundry to cooking dinners alongside your mother.

"And you should use that shampoo I bought. It would make your hair look even better. Try to comb it next time you make a bun, it will get tangled this way."

"Bubbles…" you whined, setting down your own mug. The chime of the door bell made you instinctually stand up from the table. "I get off in two hours, think you can wait for me?"

"Yep! Oh! Bring me that delicious lemon cheesecake you were talking about~"

You laughed and turned to walk towards the counter, where the trainee was struggling with the pots -and then your eyes fell over the figure looking over the blackboard containing the coffee types for the cafe. Your whole body went rigid and you glanced back at Bubbles. She also stared in the same direction, visibly tense.

Brick and Boomer.

Swallowing thickly, feeling your palms getting sweaty, you slid behind the counter again, hoping they didn't see you yet. "Yo, pinky!" -shit.

You were ready to sneak through the door to the employee bathrooms, so close. Slowly, you forced yourself to turn and face them, the trainee looking at you curiously. "Bart -Bob, I got this."

"Its Brad."

"Brad, yeah, what did I say?" you laughed nervously, giving the poor guy an awkward nudge at his side. Before he could reply, you pointed to the cups left behind at a table. "You should go get those!" and with one pat over his shoulder, he was gone. When he was gone from sight, you turned to the grinning blonde ruff and the smirking redhead.

"What do you want?" time to put the professional suit on. "Coffee." Brick replied simply.

"What…" you pinched the bridge of your nose "What kind of coffee?"

"What kind of coffee do you like?" he leaned on the counter with one elbow. "Oh, look, Bubbles is here too," you heard Boomer in the distance, being unable to focus on anything but those devil-like eyes just staring into your soul.

"Are you trying to ask me what I would suggest you get?" "No, I'm asking what kind of coffee you like."

"Why?"

"Make me your favorite coffee."

Alright. This was getting weird as fuck. Quirking an eyebrow at him, you decided it was best to get this over with. Whatever the creep wanted. "That would be 1 dollar and 30 cents." and as soon as he paid, all the while avoiding his eyes at all costs, you proceeded to make his coffee, just as the trainee returned.

"Here you go. One cafe latte with two shots of espresso, hazelnut syrup and cinnamon sprinkles." you handed Brick his mug and his fingers brushed yours. You didn't know if it was intentional or not, but you weren't gonna try and find out either. Boomer had already moved to Bubbles' table and was chatting animatedly with her. Brick joined him in a second.

The cheesecake.

You fished for a plate and went to get the slice of the dessert to bring your step-sister. The problem was that you had to go back to the table that currently harbored the two demons-cough- ruffs. Where was Butch anyway? Sighing to yourself, you added a teaspoon and headed for the trio.

Bubbles was talking to Brick when you came over, probably about Blossom, like she said she would. Always the opportunist. "Here you go, Bubs," -that snapped her attention to you and she gave you a bright smile. Brick's eyes also fixed on you, along with Boomer's.

"Renee! Tell him, tell him!" she tugged at your apron "Tell who what?" you raised your eyebrows at how her eyes sparkled. "About Blossom!" you were so tempted to slap your forehead and drag her away from them.

"Is your hair color natural?" the blue ruff suddenly asked, staring intently up at your head.

"Yes! It is her natural color! You should have seen our faces when we first met her! Buttercup hated her hair color so much, she attempted to put dye in her shampoo!" the perky puff exclaimed. Oh God...not the embarrassing stories. Nonetheless, you cringed at the memory.

"Pfffft!" even Brick was snickering at that. "Well, I'm gonna go back-" but Bubbles halted you again. "No no! It's still your break, you didn't even finish your coffee!" she gestured towards the cow patterned mug next to hers.

Bubbles, no.

You bit your lip. You tried to resist -Ugh. Sulking, you shoved the chair next to hers back and plopped down with a grunt. "So, as I was saying! Blossom now thinks you went on a date with Renee and she is extremely cranky." you choked on your coffee and started coughing.

"Bubbles!"

Her innocent gaze turned to you, eyes widened at your reaction. "Renee, are you alright?! Oh my! Deep breaths!" she slapped your back as you continued to cough weakly. "Then let her think I did." came his unamused reply, sporting a strained smirk.

"But you didn't," Boomer retorted, frowning in confusion at his brother.

You all looked at him as if he grew two heads. You could see now why he was Bubbles' counterpart and just how similar the two truly were. "But that would hurt her more!" her eyes were getting watery by the time you cooled down. "I just want everyone to get along…" Brick's smirk vanished, instead he just looked away from the goldie locks.

You placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay Bubbles!" started Boomer "Everything will be fine." and he reached across the table and grasped her hand in his. Your eyes grew to the size of saucers at the extremely affectionate gesture.

What was wrong with these boys?

"Woah woah, settle down there buddy, hands off my sister." you literally disentangled his hand from hers and pushed it back to him. Yeah, you couldn't get the image of him and that fish-lipped blonde chick in the backseat, out of your mind just yet. He only stared at you dumbly, completely clueless at what he did wrong.

"Right, I'm gonna get back to work."

Just as you made to stand up, Brick turned to face you and reached up to grab your wrist frp, across the table, making you almost lose your balance and fall over the coffees. You flinched at the contact, flashbacks of how he handled you that first time and the things he said just playing over and over again in your mind. "What?" you glared in his direction, his calloused fingers cold on your skin.

"When do you get off?" like hell you were gonna answer him -"In two hours! Oh...more like one hour and forty-nine minutes to be precise! Are you two going to wait with me? It has been so long since we've met and talked like this!"

 _Thank you Bubbles._

He let go of your wrist and you stalked back to the counter, fuming at what had transpired. He needed to get this out of his system before you punched his face in. Did he just magically forget how he treated you? The things he said or how he...great, your hands were trembling now.

When you get free time, you should really look into getting a new job.

* * *

Five minutes into closing and it didn't seem the ruffs were going anywhere. You decided long ago that you were not going to walk out of here with them. You had watched them like a hawk and it didn't look like they were ever going to try and harm Bubbles in anyway. More so, Boomer seemed to be getting touchy-feely with her. Yes, you were dying on the inside when you'd catch him winking at Bubbles or making her giggle.

Speaking of the devil. You were seething at the way he was looking at her. That...that damn look was making you feel like you were drenched in shit and honey, that's how dirty it made you feel.

Wiping the counter, you settled yourself down. No need to kill the idiot. Did he at least know where to stick it? Doubtful. That made you somewhat relax. Granted, you were sure humping was the only thought process he was able to do, even if it was with his penis.

The plan was in motion.

While they were absorbed in their own happy little convo, you snuck into the backroom, where you found the new guy. "Hey, Brendon! Come over here."

"It's Brad…"

"Yeah, Brad. Uh, so, I need to go really fast. My cat is pregnant and she just gave birth, so I gotta be there for her. Close up for me, will you?"

The poor boy was staring at you with a 'are you serious right now?' face, but just shook his head and gave one lazy and exhausted thumb up. Perfect. You passed by him and went for the bathroom. The window was at the back of the place and you already made sure you had all your things in the locker so you wouldn't have to go back in the front. This felt like a very bad Bond parody. Locking the door after you as you got all dressed, you pulled the window open and squeezed your way through.

The smell of freedom and garbage welcomed you as soon as your feet touched the ground. Time for phase two. You pulled out the piece of shit phone you had borrowed from your mother and quickly typed a message to Bubbles.

 _From: xxx-xxx-xxxx-xxx_

 _To: Bubs_

 _hey, had to leave bc i remembered i had to do something before going home. i'm rlly sorry. it was urgent. pls forgive me._

 _i'll explain everything at home, see u there!_

Oh you felt like such a jerk for doing this to Bubbles, but you were not gonna go through that kinda hell. Message sent. The only thing you were hearing as you were hiding behind the dumpster all anxious was the drum of your heart.

A low ping made you almost shit your pants right there.

 _From: Bubs_

 _To: xxx-xxx-xxxx-xxx_

 _Oh, okay! Don't worry, Boomer will walk me home_

 _I'll see you there! ::kiss emoji::hug emoji::heartemoji::_

Phew.

Thank the heavens she was so understanding. As if on cue, you could hear their voices in the distance and then a red streak passed above your head, over the buildings and the alley you were in.

Finally, in the clear.

You counted to 10 and left your hiding spot, acting as normal as possible. Tonight you'd get home walking instead of the fastest route that flying would provide.

Luckily, on your way home, you saw an announcement on the door of a club, saying they were hiring waitresses and looking for a bartender. You snapped a picture of that for later. The cafe wasn't in the best area of Townsville. In fact, it was on the very edge to the slums, but that also meant you got the job the moment you stepped foot in the place. It was because you weren't afraid that you took the opportunity. Mitch, however, well, he knew the area like his own pocket and got along with most shady peeps around, not to add the fact that he lived close.

It was a pity, though. The cafe was small but quaint. The boss, an elderly man named Jones, didn't have enough money to rent the space or buy the space closer to the center of the city, but had enough to make it nice and comfy.

As bad as you felt about thinking of abandoning the ship, you had principles and morals and right now, both were telling you to get the fuck out of there because your position had been compromised.

Hopefully, when you were done with university, you would have other options at your disposal, especially with the degree in law you were oogling. You didn't tell anyone this, but you were planning on moving back to Citiesville one day, even if you were gonna be alone. It was something about the other place that you preferred and called it home.

Your walk home took a detour suddenly, because you weren't looking forward to get there just yet, which made you end up walking aimlessly on the streets and window shopping. God, you didn't have enough money for the amount of stuff you wanted to get your hands on.

A sigh left your lips as you lingered in front of the glass window to a little boutique, a pair of high heels with studs on the back of the heel making you whine pathetically and check your wallet. Could be worse. At least you still had a five dollar bill, alas, crumpled, but still good enough until your paycheck.

* * *

When you did get home, you noted that the house was dark, which meant that it was pretty late, or at least later than you anticipated, you decided to be a nice person and use the flashlight on your phone to tip-toe to your room and get changed. After that, you made the same route back to the kitchen, setting the phone face-down on the counter so it would illuminate the room.

Time for some midnight binge-eating. Thank heavens the fridge was always full, because you made sure to shove as much bacon and ice cream in your mouth as you could and that would probably leave the others famished if they didn't go grocery shopping regularly. Ah, who were you kidding? You were a hungry fiend.

You made peace with that as you munched on some sausages straight from the jar, mixing them with pickles and mustard.

Suddenly, the front door clicked open. You stopped everything you were doing and stood there frozen. The girls were home, the professor was surely asleep along with your mother, so who the fuck was trying to sneak in? Grabbing a cucumber, you tip-toed to the kitchen door and pushed your back against the wall next to it, preparing to swing the vegetable as hard as possible on the intruder.

Just as expected, you heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen, lured in by your genius plan of leaving the fridge open and your phone still on flashlight. Your breath hitched, muscles tensed and heart rate elevated.

This was it.

Then, there was light bathing the whole room. The person flipped the switch on and you were caught mid-bashing none other than Buttercup with a cucumber. Your mouth was open, pickle stuff on your chin and pajama shirt, the vegetable gripped in both hands, just an inch from her face.

"...dude..I don't know if I should be impressed or cry for you."

You bristled at that. "What the fuck?! Couldn't you say something? Called out?"

"Yeah, like I'm gonna be that stupid bimbo from that one horror movie." she rolled her eyes and stalked inside the kitchen, noticing your pig-out session. "Stuffing your face again? How lady-like." she snorted and hopped up on the counter, taking the pickle jar and feasting upon it.

"Fuck you too."

"Language!" she imitated Blossom in a high pitch voice, wagging her finger in a no-no motion. And you weren't the most observant of people in this world, but that jacket she had on was too large for her and was certainly not hers. The dread set in. She was seeing someone.

Playing it cool, you marched over to the fridge and got your sausages, pulled up a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other, with a smug ass grin on your face. "Nice jacket."

"..." she was glaring with so much fire at you that if looks could kill, you would have been maimed right on the spot. "Wipe that grin off yo face." it only hitched higher "Don't made me come there and bash your face in with the pickle jar."

"You're just ruthless." you slowly took a sausage out and chewed on it, eyeing her still. She groaned and looked away, clearly flustered for being caught. She probably didn't expect anyone to be awake either.

"I'm going to bed, freak."

"Nighty night~ Don't let the boys bite blah blah I needed a rhyme for that." you called after her.

"You're lame." the sad sad truth, but at least now you knew that Buttercup had a social life other than hanging around the gym and sports for the rest of her existence.

 _feedback? pls? yas?_


	5. Chapter 5

_new chapter, yas o Do_

 _pls review, favorite, follow and message me! love the reviews guys!_

 _rachel : weeeeell, we'll see what happens! tbh I'm not sure what pairings will happen at the end, but I have a lot of drama planned out_

 _because i can and will : haha, thank you for the review! glad you liked that part, I'm trying to give everyone character development._

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me you had superpowers?"

Currently, you were drinking a slushie on the roof of Mitch's house, a place where you two would always turn to for stargazing or for a moment of peace. It was night and thankfully, the sky was clear. The suburban part of the slums were nicer than the urban side, you had to admit, but just as dangerous.

"I didn't specifically say that I didn't have them either." he gave you a look that told you to stop messing around. Another slurp from the blue ice beverage -"What was I even supposed to say, Mitch? Oh hey, so...there's this thing about me that you should know. I can totally lift your car with one hand and probably snap you like a twig, guess I have superpowers!"

He scoffed at your over-dramatization. "Don't pull that bullshit."

You brought your knees closer and looked away for a moment. "I didn't do it intentionally...I mean, back in Citiesville, superpowers were banned, so I learned to live normally...which was pretty nice, so I guess I got used to not telling people that." you shrugged, straightening your legs and stretching them out in front of you.

And then you came over here and it became a big deal suddenly. In terms of open-mindedness, Townsville sure took the cake, but you still felt connected to the place your grew up in. There was truly nothing like home; that, and it gave you a sense of normality, as if you weren't a freak of some kind.

Suddenly, a hand ruffled your hair in a comforting manner. "Don't get all nostalgic on me." the shaggy brown haired boy muttered, not taking his hand away even as you turned to smirk at him. "Oh, Mitch, did you find that dictionary I got you for your birthday?"

"Jesus."

"Look at you, using big words like the big boy you are,"

"God, you're such a bitch." he made a mocking whine, but it was clear he was smiling by the way his mouth corners hitched up. "Only for you~"

You were so thankful for this boy's friendship. Back when you moved to Townsville and you were acting like a little shit with everyone, Buttercup included, you met Mitch, her then crush, which was reciprocated, but the two idiots never talked about it, so it just died. Granted, you two couldn't get along, until one night at a party, when you bonded over a vodka bottle and some nicely rolled stuff that got you higher than a kite.

Turned out you two had many things in common, so from then on, your friendship only bloomed to this very point. "No, but seriously, I forgive you, candy floss." and you wouldn't have it any other way.

"Glad we got over this."

"Yeah, so last night I went to this club and there was this chick that I fucked-" "Alright, okay, hey there, thank you for the image but no thank you!" you crawled back towards the opened window to his bedroom.

"Let's go play Mario Kart so I can beat your ass."

"You'd wish!"

* * *

Later that night, you found yourself at the junkyard, swinging the bat a bit drunkenly after the five beers at Mitch's. Why you were here, you didn't know, but you made yourself all these broken radio targets to hit with the bat, you even put them up on a shitty piece of furniture. Somehow you always missed.

Squinting, you were ready to swing, but as you brought the bat round, your fingers lost the grip on the handle and your bat ended up thrown up into the sky, its trajectory unknown until you heard a very distant crash from somewhere to your right.

"Aw man, I liked that bat."

You plopped down on the ground, your ass in the dirt as you stared up at the sky again. Why did you come here? Maybe it was the frustration that Brick had done that or that Blossom didn't talk to you and avoided you through the house. More beer would help you make a smart choice, you concluded, because you weren't drunk enough to know what to do.

"Back so soon?"

Your whole body tensed and in your drunken state, you tried to stand up fast, but being inebriated meant that your body couldn't keep up with your brain, so you ended up throwing yourself on the floor and on one side, then on your all fours and after fighting back the bile rising up in your throat, you stood on very unstable and wobbly legs, just to glare at the one who dared to - _oh_ , it was Butch. You had your hands on your hips, while you swayed and squinted at him.

"What's your issue, buddy?" he shook his head and lifted some big ass machine, was it a sloth machine -only to settle it on the side and work at the square opening with some circuits all out.

"Hey don't fuckin' ignore me!" two stumbled steps here, one almost fall on the ass there, but you managed to stand by him while he worked on the cables. "You know it's dark and everythin'?" you slurred, staring dumbly at how he managed to even focus on that in the dark, only the dim lights from the street making any kind of breakthrough.

"Night vision."

"Shit, man, you guys sure are packed, aren't cha...like, all you're missing...well, you actually have that too...but like, what you're missing…" you paused and he glanced at you expectantly "I forgot what I was saying,"

He snorted and crouched by the hole in the arcade machine. "What'cha doing?"

"Fixing this."

"Oh, you fix stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I don't know what you're fixin' but mine just broke-" his head turned to you so fast you could swear he got whiplash. In that second, you bursted out laughing, all while he stared at you dumbfounded. "It's a meme, dude!" you then proceeded to sit back down, comfortably close to him.

"Lemme show you! Oh jeez…" you fished out your phone and started tapping on it furiously, until you choked down more snickers and cackles "Here! Look, _look_ ," you shoved your phone in his face, making him grunt and lean back.

"Get it? Because he's hot as hell and he's fixing something and-ahahahaha!"

The next hour was spent with you leaning over him and shoving memes in his face, laughing hysterically and whining about work. "-so, this bitch calls me a peasant and I'm like 'gurl, I'm a queen, okay? You better be satisfied with kissing this ring, because you ain't touching the crown' because she's getting served." you babble on as you lay on your back, over the side of the Pinball machine. Yep, you discovered what it actually was.

"Hey, hey, Butch," a deeply irritated sigh, but his eyes turned up to you just in time to see you worm your way all over the machine and uncomfortably close to him. "Com'ere" and before he could shove your face away, you snuck your arm around his neck and yanked him to you, squishing his cheek to yours as you positioned your phone to take a well-deserved selfie.

When you were done and let go of him, he stood up fast and took a few steps back, clearly angry and confused by what you did. "What the fuck? Delete that shit."

"What? Whyyy? I looked pretty in it, don't worry, you look fine too. I won't post it anyway," he was frowning and glaring like a pissed off cat at you "This is just for me," and then his hard gaze faltered.

"Because I wanna remember, y'know?" you didn't see it because you were too busy zooming in on the picture and squinting at it, but his glare vanished and his ears got red.

* * *

Later at dawn, long after Renee finally left, Butch was finished with the machine and checking it over in front of the house where he and his brothers lived. As soon as he was satisfied that it worked, he brought it inside the house, alas, with some effort because he had to open both the double doors at the entrance to fit it through. Their home was, well, something one would expect from three young men living together and even if their situation was special, they enjoyed the things any male would at their age. Thus, the big living room was full of scattered games,some magazines here and there, a set of weights in the corner and a bowl of sour candy on a table that he had to recondition.

Instead of the classic couch, they had three bean bags squished together and two others on the other side of the so called table. Graffiti had been spilled on two of the walls, the other two with the occasional movie posters stolen from some run-down cinema they found a long time ago. The kitchen was small compared to the room they spent most of their time in, but Brick made sure it was clean most of the time, so it didn't look as bad unless it was stacked with junk food and dirty dishes.

Butch was somehow thankful that his redheaded brother liked things to be in order and clean, it was part of his controlling charm. Snorting at his thought, the green ruff slid the machine into a corner, next to another arcade game machine he found a few years back and fixed. While Boomer was all over the new games and got his own ps4 and then the wii, which was placed in the living room since his bedroom was stocked with enough, Butch was an oldie but goldie at heart.

"The fuck are you doing?" the green-eyed male turned to the staircase where Brick stood, arms crossed over his chest and red orbs trained on the new addition to the house. The commotion must have awakened him, given the plain shirt and sweatpants he was wearing for sleeping.

"Nothing," the ravenette responded, turning right back to the machine. "Where were you?" it was just like him to pry and try to find out everything about where his brothers were and what they were doing. "Junkyard."

"Again?"

"Yeah, needed some parts for that engine in the back, then I found this one here." he patted the smooth metal of the Pinball machine. "Thought I'd fix it."

He wasn't going to ask why he went to Renee's working place, though, storing that information in the back of his mind. The weirdo was extremely talkative while drunk, he noted, and he found out more about her than he was comfortable knowing. Didn't mean he was going to spill to Brick about his meeting with her. He didn't need the controlling bastard on his back.

The red ruff only shook his head "You and your _junk_ , Boomer and his fucking _games_ …" he spat, walking to the kitchen, to probably start breakfast for himself "I swear you two would be dead without me."

Butch remained where he was, only his forest greens following his brother. He's been much harder to tolerate recently, ever since the incident, and while he wasn't the smartest between them two, he couldn't help but wonder what Brick's plan was with Renee and the knowledge that she had powers like them and the puffs.

He chose to ignore that last statement, mainly because he knew that it was Brick and that was his way of reminding them that he had the control, if anything, it calmed him down even if Butch knew he had no such thing over him. Boomer was easy to sway, he was a follower and above all, he was still a child, oblivious to most things, mainly because him and Brick did the most work. It was them that got the food, them that managed to get this house in a proper condition, them that fixed stuff and made the truce terms.

If Butch wanted to leave, he would, but he chose not to. Why leave the place you fit in the most? He learned to cope with his demons, learned how to take over the anger before it ate him whole, unlike Brick who didn't know how to handle the more overwhelming of emotions.

He'd seen Brick angry, he'd seen the destruction he could cause and how he stopped thinking as he simply rode the wave until there was nothing left. Granted, it was very hard to get him there and he could admit he admired that.

His eyes then moved over the clock. Time to go sleep.

Well, maybe after a game of Pinball.

* * *

 _"Hey, dad?" you asked in a small voice, staring at the purple bear in your small arms. "Why do you have to go?"_

 _The rustle of newspaper made you look up at him. He was sitting in the armchair, leaning on one armrest with his elbow and smiling down at you. "Mommy and I made a contract,"_

 _"A contract?" you ask, craning your neck to get a better look at him "A promise." he put it simply, lowering his hand and running his fingers through your brown strands of hair. It was longer now that mommy stopped cutting it every two months to looks like a bowl._

 _"Is it a secret promise? Can you tell me?" you pushed your head further into his big hand, liking getting him to stroke your hair like that. "Maybe when you grow older...mommy would be sad if I told you," another warm smile._

 _"But daddy, I don't want you to go!" he stood from his spot and sat down on the floor where you were playing. "Hey, hey...don't go crying on me, alright?" but you sniffled pathetically anyway. "You're a big girl, what do big girls do?"_

 _"They d-don't…" another sniffle "...c-cry." he leaned down and pressed his forehead to your little one, stroking your back in comfort "That's right, big girls don't cry…" his eyes were so green, like shiny precious stones, like the leaves in spring "You're a big girl, aren't you, baby?"_

 _"Y-yes!" but you were hiccuping already -then those god forsaken tires screeched again and you were back on the street, your father smiling at you as you embraced him tightly before -_

 _ **BEEP BEEP BEEP**_

Fucking damn it. You shot up from your bed, panting and looking around frantically until you found the source of that noise. "Shut the hell up!" you took the clock and chucked it across the room, making it hit the wall so hard it broke. That dream was disturbing. Was that a memory or was it just a dream? You couldn't tell. For some reason you couldn't remember him, your dad, at all. You knew for a fact that he was in that accident with you, the one that made you what you were today, but...that was so vivid.

You read that it could have been a traumatic experience that your brain stored the fuck away, even the doctor suggested it might be that, but still. More importantly, what the fuck did you do last night? You swept the tangled blanket off you -"Dressed." in yesterday's clothes and with the shoes on.

As if on cue, your head started pounding. A hangover, figures.

"Shit." you cuss and pat around the nightstand for your phone "Where the hell are you…" this time you try to locate the jacket you had last night. Denim, was it? As soon as you see it, you stretch over to the floor on your hands until you reach it, before you snatch it up and pull back.

Aha, there you go.

 _1 missed call from Mitch_

 _1 message from a college mate_

Oh, that's why you set an alarm. College. Looking at the time on your phone, you go to the menu, to the picture you took of your schedule when -"...what the fuck did I do?" you pale as a picture of you and Butch shows up. Granted, you had that drunk face where you squint your eyes and your hair is tangled and face is flushed and then there's Butch, his cheek smashed against your own, his eyes widened and a grimace on his face. You could see the struggle.

Those green eyes. You absentmindedly sweep your thumb over his face.

Like shiny stones and spring leaves. You stare at the picture for a moment longer, but decide not to dwell on it. What's the worst you could have done? Moving on to the real important stuff.

"Criminal law it is."

Aspirin, water, shower and school. It sounded like a plan. 8:30 -you'd make it till 10, maybe even get breakfast.

* * *

9:30 and you got off the bus, close enough to the school grounds and you had half an hour to spare even. The aspirin was slowly making it bearable for you and today you decided to be risky and take a pair of heels on, paired with an over-sized cream sweater and skinny black jeans. Couldn't go wrong with this outfit.

Adjusting the glasses on your nose and swinging your backpack over your shoulder, you started walking to the entrance, map in arm.

What you didn't expect to see, however, was the red ruff with two coffee cups in his hand, waiting a bit further from the staircase of the entrance. Was he waiting for Blossom? Well, not your problem. You were going to walk past him and up the stairs, but as soon as he caught sight of you, he grinned your way and raised one cup up. "Hey, pinky! Come over?"

Umm, no thank you? You had a sense of self-preservation still. When you didn't move at all, but remained on the spot, one heel up the stair, he furrowed his brows and came over himself. You took it he wasn't used to being disobeyed or took it lightly.

He shoved a cup of coffee in your face, looking you in the eye -well, glasses. Thank God you wore these, otherwise you wouldn't have had the balls to make eye-contact with him. Cautiously, you took the cup and inspected it.

"What...what is this?"

He took a gulp from his own cup and smirked. "Coffee. It's not poisoned."

Why did he buy you coffee? Was he trying to make it up to you for the shit he did and said? _Wait a minute._ "How did you find out when I was gonna be here?" you quirked an eyebrow at him, a bit crept out.

"Well, courses start at 8, don't they?" he asked casually "...yeah."

"Waited here, you had to show up eventually." he took another chug and shrugged as if it made perfect sense to wait for someone two hours in hopes they would eventually come. "...how did you know _I would even come here_?"

"Bubbles mentioned that you have school today." oh, well that made it an inch less creepy, but still. Was this how a guilt-trip felt like? You just continued to stare at him like he was the weirdest thing you've ever seen. The fact that he went to these lengths just to do this in a 'hey, sorry' manner, because you couldn't comprehend why else he did it, well, it made you feel...better about him?

"Drink up, got your favorite."...what the hell was going on today? Did you end up travelling to a parallel universe while you were sleeping? For good measure, you looked around, but everything looked in order. So, you took a sip, surprised it was still warm after two hours. Sure enough, he got it right, just the way you liked it.

He was watching you like a hawk, trying to determine if you liked it or not, much like a child that did something nice and was fishing for a reaction. "Umm...it's good, thanks?" you were unsure how you were supposed to feel about this whole thing.

Before it got any more awkward, you decided to break the ice. "Y-you're forgiven...so...you don't have to….umm" you cleared your throat "you don't have to do this...it's fine…" was it, though? You were trying to push him away, that was for sure. Blossom would not be amused by this scene of her ex giving you coffee, it already felt too personal for it to be comfortable.

"...yeah" he looked away from you and stuffed a hand in his ripped jeans' pocket. Today he was wearing a red cap with black studs, a long sleeved black shirt, ripped jeans, a red and black flannel wrapped around his middle and some red and black high tops. Once you were done studying his wardrobe choices, you looked back up at him. This time, his hair was wrapped in a low and loose ponytail. He cleaned up nice. "So...I guess that's that." you broke the silence.

His crimson orbs turned back to you as you took the step on the stair, so now you were as tall as him. "Since this...umm, is over with...that means you won't have to come at my workplace or buy me coffee, not that I don't find it very thoughtful, but you kinda sorta dated Blossom and it would be really weird if we were seen together." you laughed nervously "So now you won't have a reason to...anymore, right?"

You measured your words carefully as to not seem like you weren't grateful for this. "It was nice...knowing you, I guess and uh...thanks for the coffee and all!" another step higher on the staircase. You checked your wrist for your watch to check the time and make it as subtle as possible that you had to go.

"Oh, damn, well, looks like I have to go, course starting and all, I'll umm...see you when I see you?" you made a gun finger motion at him before turning and hurriedly going up the stairs, stopping at the doorway to wave at him one last time and then going in.

 _Holy baby Jesus_ , that was weird as fuck, you decided, placing a hand over your chest and feeling your racing heart. Why did this guy give you the chills every time he was in your presence?

wonder what he's up :U is he a fukboy or-

 _lemme know if you guys liked it! seeya_


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